


Lover

by AnnaCifer



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: ABBA worship, All The Tropes, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Class Differences, Draco is a rich prat with a good heart, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter Friendship, Hermione Social Justice Warrior, I'm so bad at tagging, Idiots in Love, Inspired by a Legally Blonde Song but spinned out of control, M/M, Mentions of past abuse, More tags to be added when I learn how to tag properly, Multi, My First Fanfic, There's a band, actually she's the idiot, dramione - Freeform, it gives me chills they are so cute, lawyer AU, no magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:54:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23739424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaCifer/pseuds/AnnaCifer
Summary: Hermione is fresh out of university and due to life circumstances she has to start working for Riddle, Malfoy and associates a firm of lawyering sharks that clearly clashes with her belief system. This only gets even worse her enemy from uni, the rich prat Draco Malfoy, is her new partner.
Relationships: Angelina Johnson/George Weasley, Cedric Diggory/Viktor Krum, Daphne Greengrass/Pansy Parkinson, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/Viktor Krum, Lee Jordan/Fred Weasley, Theodore Nott/Blaise Zabini
Comments: 24
Kudos: 55





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This is my first fic and I hope you like it. It's a lawyer AU that came to me while listening to musicals because that's the type of person I am. I have a few chapters already written so I have faith that I can keep the updates regular. All the love in the world to QuinTalon for being the best alpha and beta out there. I wouldn't be publishing without her encouragement. Thank you so much to I_was_BOTP for betaing this chapter.

“A toast-” my best friend, standing opposite me in our favorite pub, pointed in my direction with the neck of her beer bottle, “to one of the good ones, who has decided to sell her soul to corporate.”

Our rowdy group cheered, and a blush came to my cheeks like it did every time the teasing had erupted around me tonight, after I announced that I had decided to take this job. It would probably keep occurring until something more interesting came our way.

“Well, not every one of us can be the next big thing about to happen to British music.” I stuck my tongue out, taunting Ginny right back without an ounce of meanness in me. I loved her songs.

“Shh, shh, shh. Granger, I’m not finished. You can’t speak yet.” She lifted a hand to silence me and I shut my mouth. “So, as much as we all love to tease you until you get that lovely shade of red on you. We all love you just as much, as in you as a whole.” It was pretty clear that the redhead was fairly tipsy at this point of the night and I stifle a laugh ”So we love you... like a lot much more than that... So we all chipped in and we got you these for your first day with the fancy people!”

Ginny reached into her tote bag and pulled out what was clearly a shoe box. I saw the name written on the lid and I frowned. It was a designer and even I, who cared very little about high fashion and things of that sort, knew anything with that name on it was expensive. Way too expensive.

“Guys, this…”

“Oh, shut up and open it,” a voice from the end of our table urged me. Angelina always knew how to give me that final push. “We got them on sale.”

I did as instructed and opened the package. Inside there were a pair of black stilettos and I looked at them in awe. They were probably the most beautiful pair of shoes that I had ever seen, and the most expensive. Sale or no sale.

“Guys, I’m… I don’t even know what to say… Thank you so much.”

“You don’t need to say anything, hon, you need to slip on those tomorrow morning and kick some ass.”

I smiled to Harry, my oldest friend, and composed a perfectly indignant expression.

“Oh my, officer, are you even allowed to use that language?”

“I don’t know, you tell me, solicitor.”

The familiar bickering was back and I sipped at my beer feeling happy to be here with my friends.

“I’m not a solicitor quite yet. I still have two more years to go. Kinda, the point of all of this, remember?”

I closed the shoebox and stored it safely in my own bag. I didn’t want it getting ruined by any chance. Looking around, I came to realise, once more, how fortunate I was to have found my way into this group of fantastic friends.

-0-

“Ginny! I need you!”

I called her from the bathroom,pure desperation and dread ooze from my voice. I held the small tool in my hand as if I were holding the key to the nuclear codes itself.

“I’m here! I’m here! God! What’s with the yelling at,” she rubbed her eyes before looking at my phone which sat on the shelf under the mirror, “at bloody five forty-seven in the morning?”

“I can’t do it!” I showed her the little brush and shook it in front of her face. “It has to be you. I tried three times already. Please. If I keep trying I’m going to mess everything else.”

“Okay, okay.” She grumbled. “But this weekend, this weekend you and I are going to sit down and fucking practice, lady, until you can get your damn eyeliner to perfection. Because I still had another good twenty minutes in bed that were sacrificed in the name of friendship and nothing else. This is going to happen this week only, understood?” I nodded so hard that I felt my brain shaking in my skull. “Okay, close your eyes. And don’t open them until I tell you so! If you open them before it’s dry, it will get ruined anyway.”

“I love you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Me too.”

-0-

Almost an hour of a hellish commute later I arrived at the office. I had been here before, to conduct my interview so I wasn’t as intimidated this time around, but I still felt unsettled. This wasn’t my element.

The office was in a modern building in the middle of the city. It was one of the things I loved the most about London. You could have seventeenth century buildings all marble and stone sitting there with cutting edge skyscrapers all metal and glass. They made more an eclectic and amazing view.

The lift beeped and I stepped out of it with resolve. The sign, “Riddle, Malfoy, and Associates” stood in front of me like an omen but I didn’t back down. This was my life now and I was going to be the best fucking preppy solicitor to be anyone had ever seen.

The girl at the reception desk, Myrtle, as I had learnt the previous time I had visited this place, pointed me to the place where I would be briefed by the person who was in charge of the law trainees.

The directions Myrtle gave me took me to a small meeting room, empty at this very moment. I took a seat not too far from the head of the table and used that time to check the messages on my phone.

Ginny had finally dragged herself out of bed to go to her day job and had sent multiple GIFs and emojis of encouragement into our group chat, some of the other had joined her as well. I thanked them before my anxiety took me to put my phone away and I picked up a folder out of my bag, which contained all of the documents about this job I had so far, and I started to read them all over again.

I was most definitely startled when the door was opened and a man with dark hair and grey eyes entered through it. I sprang out of my seat and stood up to shake his hand with all the confidence I could muster when he extended his.

“Good morning, Miss Granger. I’m Regulus Black and I’ll be the one in charge of your training for the next two years.”

“Good morning, Mister Black. I can’t wait to get to work.”

“Oh yes, we will come to that but first we still have a few details to sort out. There should be another trainee joining us shortly. Please sit while we wait. Can I offer you something? Coffee? Tea?”

“Coffee is fine, thank you.”

I wondered who this other person might be and what kind of nerve they had to be late to a meeting such as this one. Mr. Black called Myrtle for our order of coffee and before I could steam too much my thoughts these were answered when a blond man crossed the threshold.

Fuck. That was Draco Malfoy. Why was I surprised? Wasn’t I supposed to be bright? His fucking family name was in the front of the office. How many Malfoy families could be in London dedicated to Law? Not many, apparently. Fuck.

“What’s the swot doing here?”

His upper lip raised with disdain. I rolled my eyes, and this was first year at uni during Common Law Method and Ethics all over again.

__

**_Of course I’m sitting in the first row of the class. This scholarship hasn’t been easy to get and I’m planning to do everything in my power to squeeze every bit of knowledge I can of this university so I can come back next year. I am going to be back next year. I have to be back next year._ **

****

**_“Can anyone define Malum Prohibutum?”_ **

****

**_My hand shoots through the air right on cue and the professor points to me so I can give the correct answer just as I had been doing since the beginning of the autumn semester._ **

****

**_“Malum Prohibutum is an act prohibited by law, like jaywalking or chewing gum in Singapur.”_ **

****

**_“Therefore Malum Ensae…” the professor encourages me to go further_ **

****

**_“Is an action that is evil in itself, like murder or assault.”_ **

**_A voice from the end of the class cut me off before I could answer. I turn to glare at the stranger. He is wearing sunglasses and his hair is a mess and I could have sworn that he has just done that to spite me. He touches his temple with two finger and salutes at me before smirking and placing his head between his arms on his desk and take what I am sure is a nap._ **

__

“I happen to work here” I said flatly. After four years I had learnt to become unaffected, or apparently unaffected. If I had bitten back, he would have gotten what he wanted. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have a yatch to be partying at?”

“Oh, but the law is my true calling, Granger, and as it happens the two years of mandatory training are required even for me no matter how dashing I am.”

Blush creeped through my neck. Fucking absinthe. Never again.

With the lack of verbal response on my side Mr Black seemed to get back to life, suddenly stunned by our verbal tennis match.

“Draco, enough.” He snapped. “I will assume you two know each other. University, maybe? I took a look at your resume, Miss Granger. It was impressive. University of Law with Excellence Awards which fully funded tuition every year. Therefore, I expect highly of you. Getting into petty fights the moment you step foot here does not fall into that category.” I felt the heat coming to my cheeks. I have always hated when I was scolded, and this had a too familiar feeling.

“I’m so sorry Mr. Black, Malfoy. It will not happen again” I put my big pants on, and I managed compose an apology. I needed the money and it was definitely not my name on the wall by the fucking door.

In that moment Myrtle made and appearance with coffees for the three of us.

“Thank you, Myrtle.”

I muttered towards her. I was going to need a friend here and might as well be her. I took my coffee and I sprinkled a bit of milk and three sugars trying really hard not to make any eye contact with Malfoy. He had just won our verbal match and I didn’t want to see him gloat.

“Miss. Granger, Mr. Malfoy, you will be assisting me and other more experienced lawyers with our cases so you can get hands on experience of the real lawyering world.” Mr Black was back to his lawyer façade and had left the scolding teacher behind. Still, my ego was sore. He opened a briefcase and took two identical folders which he laid in front of each of us “This are the details of this week’s case. Do well and you might even get a desk at some point. For the time being you’ll work from here. Yes, together.” His look hardened “And remember. Be civil. We are not running a kindergarten we are running a law firm.”

With his last words he left. Leaving me alone. With  _ him _ .

I had sold my soul to corporate.

Now I had to work with Draco Malfoy.

Life was going to be hell.

I glanced at the clock.

How long until four o’clock?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to the people who commented and left kudos! You made my world and every time an email hit me I just squee super hard. You're great!╰(*°▽°*)╯All of my Alpha-Beta love to QuinTalon

The place was nice. About an hour away from the city and surrounded by big gardens and, beyond that, a huge forest. I hoped she liked it here, but I couldn’t know for certain because she wasn’t able to speak. At least not yet. The doctor had promised progress when I had brought her here.

I crossed the main entrance and reached the reception desk.

“Good morning.” I said with the best smile I could manage “My name is Hermione Granger. I’m here to see Helen Granger. I’m on her visitors’ list.”

I signed the paperwork that would allow me entry and gladly received the news that my automatised visitor pass would be available next week.

Chewing my lip, I opted for the stairs instead of the elevator. I climbed the three flights at a steady pace, preparing myself. I had just seen my mother in the hospital last week. I rationally knew that expecting any progress so soon would be foolish, but, still, hope sat like the worst kind of weapon at the pit of my stomach.

I finally reached her room. 305.

I turned the door handle and stepped inside. 

With the soft click of the door behind me I finally allowed myself to take the room in front of me.

It was a nice room. It was not one of the cheapest, not one of the most expensive either. It had her bed, a nightstand with a tiny lamp on top of it, a double door built-in closet, a dresser with a few framed photographs sitting on top, a door that probably lead to the private en-suite for which I had paid good money and, finally, two teal armchairs by a window in the furthest wall.

One of them was occupied.

And there she was. Sitting. Breathing. But barely acknowledging the world around her.

I crossed the room and pressed a kiss to the top of her head as I took a seat next to her, the once thick and untamable curls now feeling thin and brittle beneath my lips.

“Hi mom, how are you?” I didn’t receive an answer. But I was way past expecting one. I sat with her and made conversation. Keeping her company. “Do you like the new place? I think is so much better than the hospital, right? Have they taken you to the gardens for a walk? I’m going to ask for that. They are truly breathtaking. And it’s only September so it’s really not that cold yet.” I took her one of her hands and gave it a squeeze. “Would you like that? You and me? Out on a stroll around the gardens?” She just blinked “I’ve started working for that new company this week. You know it’s not really my scene but well.” I shrugged “ Do you know who else is doing his internship there? Draco bloody Malfoy. The stupid trust-fund prick from uni. I guess I ought to know that since his last name was in the firm, but I was in denial or something. The firm must be owned by his daddy, or his granddaddy, or something like that. Well, his family is involved somehow. I can’t get rid of the stupid git. Yeah, yeah, I know mum. You don’t like when I curse like a sailor. I’m a solicitor in the making. I should have a better mouth, but have you seen my crowd?” 

I remembered something then. 

“Speaking of which, Harry might come with me next week. You remember him right? You and Lily always used to say we were platonic siamese twins and that eventually a doctor would have to search us for a scar of when we were cut off from one another. I’m living with him now. No. No funny ideas please, mum. Remember. Siamese Twins. Related. I’m living with him and his girlfriend. Remember Ginny, right? We three have a really nice house in the borough. I can’t leave Newham. It’s home.”

I realised then I had been speaking for a while now and that I was feeling a bit hoarse. I cleared my throat and kissed my mother’s hand. 

“Mom I’m going to get some water from the bathroom, okay? Then I’ll step outside and I’ll ask around to see if I can get us your chair ready for that walk around the gardens.”

I stood on my feet and did precisely that.

-0-

  
  


We were sitting around the small table placed in the kitchenette in the house where the apartment was located. The NGO where I had met my best friend almost three years ago didn’t have the best facilities available, but we have always made it work as much as we could. 

The apartment that had the office was not really so big. It was a medium sized studio, that could only fit a couple off desks with two chairs opposite them and one behind them each, a folding screen between the two gave the illusion of privacy. The walls were lined with row after row of filing cabinets. I didn’t like that much, I thought it was a stupid waste of paper when it could be done digitally, the planet was dying for fucks sake! But the bureaucrats loved everything on paper so we had to do it that way. Then, there was a door that lead to a small bathroom and, finally, the kitchenette where we were having lunch at that moment. 

I picked up a forkful of tabbouleh from my plate and smiled at Luna. It was delicious. We always did this. Brought food to share with one another during meals here on the weekends. 

“Are you girls going to the pub later?” Angelina asked to the rest of us.

She was in charge of everything around here. Ginny, Luna and I only came to volunteer at the weekends and when work or uni would give us a break, but for Angelina this was her day job and she was here every day of the week.

“Nope.” Ginny cut me before I could say anything. “Granger and I are staying in. She has a masterclass to attend to. She’s been waking me every day of this week at five to help her with her eyeliner. So that ends today. I’m teaching her to put her big girl pants and do it on her own.”

  
  


“First of all, it was five thirty. And Monday it was quarter to six! Although I love you and adore you for it.” I pouted and left my last crisp on her plate as a peace offering. “But yeah, my hands are shaky as hell and more so in the morning. I need to show up to work with a full face of makeup because they are sexist pigs so, I need to get my eyeliner right. Do you want to come? Have a laugh at my expense?”

“Oh, hell yeah please girls come.” My housemate jumped right into the idea “We’ll throw Harry to the curb, I mean, the pub. Make it a girls night and let the boys have their fun over there. We’ll have snacks and alcohol that, for once, we are not paying my brothers for. What do you say?”

We looked at the rest of them expectantly. 

“Oh… I think it would be fun” A flute-like voice was the first one to speak “Plus, I have some makeup hacks that can help you. With a piece of paper you can guide yourself, for example… I can show you later.”

“Thank you Luna” I said, not really sure of what she meant but guessing I’ll figure out tonight. 

“Okay, I’m in as well” said Angelina. “But I have to go to the pub first to see your brother and like pat him in the head or something for being a good boyfriend and not setting anything on fire this week.”

“I’m sure my mum will appreciate the fact that you keep him under control. Does he let you leash him in bed?” Ginny snorted and we all started laughing.

My abdomen hurt so much by the time the laugh stopped and I had tears in my eyes. 

“I’ll be there too.” Katie added when she recovered her breath. 

“I wish I could make it girls, but can’t. I have an hospital shift tonight.” Alicia gave us a sad smile. “Send me lots of pictures and then audios of all of you totally pissed, okay?”

“I’ll send you pictures of Hermione looking like a racoon.”

I stuck out my tongue in the direction of Ginny and finished eating. A glance at the clock had told me that we only had ten more minutes to finish and clean. 

I stood up and started to clear the empty plates before placing them in the sink.I opened the hot water tap and began to clean with diligence. Katie soon joined me in the task. This was our cleaning duty week. We were efficient. I cleaned and she rinsed and left the plates in the rack to dry. 

“So, how’s work been? I know that that stupid firm was not in your plans.”

“Work was work. Like, I’m a lawyer and being a lawyer is what I’ve always wanted to be.There’s a lot of people who don’t get to be what they want to be. That makes me incredibly privileged. And yes, I wanted to be a lawyer because I wanted to help others in need and right now I’m not helping anyone but myself and those bloody stupid rich prats, but-” I bit my lip. “I don’t know how else I’m supposed to do what I have to do. So yeah, I’ll endure it. And I won’t like my job the way millions of people on this planet don’t like their job. And during the weekends I’ll come here and put my lawyering skills to good use and I will help people who actually need it.”

“You are a self-sacrificing idiot, but you are our self-sacrificing idiot” I felt Angelina’s arms around my waist and there she was, hugging me.

I hadn’t realised the sudden silence that had fallen upon the room and that I had stopped my mechanical task. Suddenly, all the girls were on me and I was enveloped in warmth and friendship and that was all I needed. Tears came to my eyes and I sniffled. Shit. I hated crying. 

“Okay, okay.” I managed to say. “The plates need cleaning and we have work to do this afternoon.” 

I was released from the hug and I finished cleaning the plates. While Katie rinsed and stacked them on the rack I made my way to my desk. I had a file open, the case I was working on progressed slow but steady. It was the only good thing about it.

Our NGO helped women who had been victims of any kind of assault. Either domestic violence, rape, stalking, threats… We protected women of a world who didn’t want us there

I heard the door opening and closing and I assumed that the other girls had already left for the ground floor which was much more spacious because the front and back lawn had been added to the building for the purpose of creating more room. The workshops and Ginny counseling office were held in the ground floor. Up here there was only for Angelina to run things and my small law practice.

I sat in my chair with a sigh and went back to the case. I needed to give my all to these women. They needed me, they needed us all in this world that had failed them. 

-0-

When Katie, the first one to arrive, showed up, Harry had already left for the pub. 

I guided her to our living room. It wasn’t anything too fancy. We had a big L-shaped sofa that we could pull over and turn into a bed when we had guests overnight. There was also an enormous red bean bag chair that had once belonged to the The Pride Rock, before Fred and George had decided to change the theme of the pub entirely and distributed the bean bags out to their friends. The coffee table, which was usually covered in all kinds of knick-knacks and our laptops, had been cleared and filled again with snacks and treats, glasses for the alcohol that was cooling in our fridge, and of course, what had brought everyone here this evening. A magnifying mirror and eyeliner tube.

“Oh c’mon Hermione, stop looking at it like it’s a death sentence.”

“I just know Katie, that before tonight ends I’m going to end up putting that brush inside my eye. Just mark my words.”

-0-

“Granger, stay still for fuck’s sake! And why does your hand shake so much. Thank God you didn’t want to be a surgeon you would have sliced us all to pieces.” Ginny was holding my hand in front of my face, trying to guide through the movement with little to no result.

“Okay. Hermione, relax” Angelina interjected “Why don’t you try to run your finger above your eyelashes so you can have a feel of the place where you will be putting the brush?”

“Here, have this.” I opened my eyes to see Luna holding a piece of paper which had a strange cut in it. “I had to do it by feel a bit but I’m sure it’s the correct shape, and we’ll see about the size the second you put it in your eye.”

I arched an eyebrow. 

“You put in your eyelid, just above your eyelid, and you paint in between them. That’s the way you get the line done.”

“Luna… That’s… Genius.”

“I told you you just needed a piece of paper.”

“Okay.” I declared. “I like her idea the best.” We do that. Now, where’s that brush of Satan?”

-0-

“Say selfie.” Angelina declared with her arm outstretched as much she could to fit us all in the picture she was taking with her phone.

“#EyelinerOnPoint #Finally.” I said when I saw her posting the picture.

“#GirlsNight.” Added Ginny with a smile.

“@AliceTheDoctor #YouAreMissed” Luna was in the bean bag, the red strongly contrasting her blonde, delicate features. 

I relaxed into the couch and grabbed my drink from the table in front of me. It was the weekend. I was surrounded by my friends and work seemed so far away in my mind. I felt at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So no Draco today but I wanted to create a bit of the background of Hermione's world. This fic is about her and the relationship is only one more thing. He'll be back next week and we'll have an extra guest. Any guesses?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm back another Sunday to give you some lawyerly nonsense. Thank you so much QuinTalon for her help as my alphabeta and I'll see all of you next Sunday ♥

I had established a routine with the passing weeks in the firm. The uneasiness that creep in my spine never left, would be easy to call it qualms or a guilty conscience, but I had learnt to relax in the presence of my allies there: Myrtle and Regulus Black. 

Myrtle was far too gullible to cause any true harm and she appealed to that part of me that needed to protect the innocents at all costs. And Black… he was quite cool actually, not like the rest of them, he didn’t seem to carry that aura of superiority and evil around him and I had managed to crack a few jokes with him, never forgetting that he was indeed my supervisor. 

And then there was him. Malfoy. My personal torture during four years of uni and back again at work for a sequel no one had asked for. I had tried  _ really hard _ to keep the bickering to a minimum. After all, if we fought openly, he would be the winner. This was his daddy’s firm. He was daddy’s boy. He had the safety net to fall into. I had nothing. And I needed,  _ really needed _ to keep this job. I had a goal. A mission. A reason to be here. 

So I had turned to Katie. In a desperate attempt to control my anger when provoked I had asked her to teach me some Tai-Chi meditation breathing exercises to use in case of emergency. 

And today was a _ case of emergency. _

Because I had had an awful night.

And I had pressed snooze too many times my alarm.

And I hadn’t had my morning coffee yet.

And I had missed the train.

And my hair was even more of a mess than usual.

And, of course, he saw it. He was an expert of picking my defects and using them against me. 

“Wow, your mop of hair looks even more dreadful than usual. Did you, by any chance, feel the need to sleep in a gutter?” I saw him, palating my defects. 

I couldn't do this. No verbal spar or meditations of any kind without my daily dose of caffeine. So I emitted a sound that was part groan and part yawn and I accepted my defeat by taking my headphones out of my laptop bag and plugging them to my phone so I could be left adrift with the music in the fucking time that Regulus was taking to grace us with his presence. I really hoped, for his sake, that he had a very good reason for leaving me alone with Malfoy on the worst bloody morning ever. 

But, of course, nothing was that simple.

And he wouldn’t resign to an easy win.

He had to push my buttons.

I felt a jerk in the wire that connected my headphones to my phone and, all of a sudden, the aggressive notes of the electric guitar and a furious voice filled the conference room where we were waiting for Regulus.

I pressed pause immediately. Silence. Again. And then, of course, I looked at him. No. I scowled at him. 

  
  


“Sex Pistols, Granger? Not what I was expecting to find in your playlist honestly. I thought you more of a Top 40 Pop sort of gal” The mockery practically oozed from his voice.

  
  


“There’s so much, so much” I hissed “you don’t know about me. Besides, even if I were one of those girls, there’s nothing wrong with it. People, and by people I mean men, like to judge women and belittle -”

“Yeah, yeah… Spare me the Judith Butler seminar at…” He glanced at his watch “...eight thirty in the morning.” Now it was his turn to frown “Where the hell is Regulus?”

“I was actually going to talk about Kate Millet, but colour me impressed. You know who Judith Butler is?”

“Who the hell doesn’t know who Judith Butler is, Granger?”

Both my eyebrows shot upwards and, before I could answer, Regulus, our dear bumper, finally made himself present and, with him our tasks for the week, and Myrtle carrying my much needed caffeine.

-0-

“Girls, I think I’ve met someone.”

It was Saturday again and that meant lunch during breaks in the office.

“Please do tell”

Ginny was always the fastest of us all and now that Alice had put herself semi-out there, there was no going back from it. 

“It was the other night, during one of those 36 hours shifts I had to pull in the ER.”

“Are female doctors allowed to flirt in the ER? Wouldn’t that shake the patriarchy too much?” Angelina said right on cue and we all chuckled. 

“Wait.” I crooked my head, slightly confused “Are ER hook-ups even a thing? Like in real life. Outside Grey’s Anatomy and all. Not that I’ve ever watched that show.”

“You haven’t?” Katie sounded personally wounded. “You must. But I warn you. You are going to get hurt.”

“Girls. TOPIC” Ginny reminded us. “So you met someone.” She carried the conversation back to Alice.

“A girl someone or a boy someone?” Quipped Luna.

“A girl someone.” She had a little smile we all knew too well. We exchanged glances and brow movements. “She was there with a friend who had broken his arm trying to jump over a fountain. And they reminded me of us and the boys—so free and rowdy and adventurous and I don’t know. Just looking for trouble on a Saturday night.”

“So…” I slightly nudged her taking advantage of the fact that she was sitting by my side “Are we meeting her soon? Are you bringing her to the pub?”

“Oh no.” Alice blushed. “That’s third date material. We’ve just texted so far.” 

“What’s her name, by the way?”

Luna, as always, had the right questions in store.

Alice’s blush seemed to deepen and all of our heads got closer to hers.

“Out with it.”Ginny could be really ruthless when it came to make us spill the beans.

“...Alice.”

“Are you going to date someone… called like yourself?” I head crooked again. “Actually, yeah” I shrugged. “I see it. I might download Tinder and try it. Or, do you girls know any single queer Hermiones who I might be compatible with?”

“You” Ginny pointed at me “lost your marbles again. But who can blame you working in that place. And Alice we are happy for you.” Her face softened instantly “I’m sure she’s lovely and we all keep the boys in check when you bring her around the pub”

  
  


“I love you, girls.” Alice seemed flooded with the gratitude and comfort you can only find in your girlfriends.

“And we love you.” Angelina said with the reassurance of the fact that the sun will rise from the East.

-0-

The last project I had been working on had gone by swimmingly. It was a merger. Our client, the one taking over, was able to purchase his new company at a much lower value and, consequently, there had been a few hundreds of jobs lost.

If I had been something remotely similar to Christian I would have been feeling the need to make reparation for my sins right now.

I made my way back to the meeting room that had become my sanctuary and stretched my neck, feeling it _ pop _ . Ginny was right. This place was definitely not healthy, but I had to do what had to be done. Maybe I did have some Christian in me, I was nailing the martyr part lately.

I raised my gaze to meet Regulus when he entered the room. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. 

“I know that normally you would have a spare day between cases, but we have a new client and he has requested your assistance specially.”

“Mine?”

“Yes.”

“Apparently he is familiar with your work from university and he saw you just when he entered and you were making your way back here so you and Mr. Malfoy will be assisting in this case as well.”

I had no idea who this person might be. Maybe one of my professors at university? That I could do. It was familiar territory. Although God only knows what kind of obscure sins had brought them to this particular corner of hell. EN-FUCKING-NOUGH WITH THE BIBLICAL REFERENCES, GRANGER.

“All right. Fine”

It’s not like I had any other choice.

  
  


I picked up my laptop bag and followed Regulus out of the room to the lift up to the floor where we usually met the clients. In my mind, I wasn’t even there, I was preparing dinner, trying to remember if I still had frozen vegan burgers that I could salvage for us three, so it’s no wonder that it all fucking blasted in my face as soon as the door opened. 

“Mionny! How nice to see you again! It’s been too long. Way way too long.”

And there  _ he _ was. Dominating the room. Because when  _ he _ fucking didn’t? 

Malfoy was there, of course, given that he was my partner in this whole internship in obtaining the stupid fucking definitive solicitor title. Why there were so many fucking hurdles again?

And there were two of the actual solicitors of the firm, a woman and a man. But I didn’t care about any of them. Because  _ he _ was fucking here and  _ he _ was fucking here and  _ he _ was approaching me. 

_ His _ stupid blond hair,  _ his _ stupid blue eyes, and  _ his _ fucking smile. I balled my hands into fists. I didn’t trust myself not to punch  _ him _ in the face for what he had done to me. I had fantasized with the idea enough times.

“Lockhart.” I said through gritted teeth.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm sorry I'm late but honestly with lockdown easing down where I live I just forgot to update last night. CW: Discussion of past abuse. I hope you enjoy anyways.

“Oh, c’mon Miony. Don’t be so serious. You and I go way back.”

I must have looked like a deer caught in the fucking headlights and, quite honestly, I felt like that for about thirty slow agonisingly tortuous seconds. But finally, I managed to snap out of it, I put my big girl pants on and I blinked twice before turning to face Regulus.

“Mr. Black, could we have a word in private please?”

Everyone, except  _ him _ of course, because he was the captivator, had seemed stunned for those thirty seconds, but that broke the spell somehow and I received a nod before we stepped outside of the room and I could finally fucking breathe deeply again. 

Regulus took me to an empty office a couple doors down.

“I can’t work that case. Conflict of interests.” I kept talking even though I could see he wanted to intervene. But if he had asked for me I needed to get my point across. “He is my ex and I hate his fucking guts.”

-0-

“GINNY!” I called as soon as I entered the door. I stepped out of my high heels and left my coat and my laptop bag on the small cupboard we had next to the door. “GET THE WINE AND THE ICE-CREAM. I HAD A DAY TM.” 

I shouted for her throughout the house. I suspected she would be in her bedroom upstairs and I wanted her in the living room. I plopped myself on the sofa and threw a blanket over myself while I groaned. 

“Have you just said TM, as in Trademark, outloud?” I could hear her voice, along with her footsteps coming down the stairs.

My answer was another groan. I was hearing her now, fumbling around the kitchen and I loved her infinitely for it. 

The sofa shifted near my head and the blanket was pulled backwards enough so I could see my surroundings again. 

“So, do you want to talk about it or just go straight for the booze and the carbs?”

‘’I mean, booze and carbs are great, that’s why I asked for them, but I do need to talk about it or I fucking will lose my marbles. Again.“

I forced myself into an upward position and I ended seated on the sofa. I made room for her in the blanket and, as if I were a cat, I tried to make myself comfortable before I started speaking. I let my hair loose and I removed my bra without taking off my blouse, but I did unzip my trousers.

“So,” I finally started. “Do you remember that day when a teenager threw a stapler at you and I was like thank God I’m going to be a lawyer and there is no way I have a day nearly as miserable as that one?”

Ginny, ever my friend, nodded, and on second thought added “You also said something along the lines of  _ Fucking kids. I’m tying my tubes _ which I called utter bullshit, but continue”

“Well misery has come to pass.”

“Have you tied your tubes?”

“Gin…” although I couldn’t suppress the chuckle. 

“Yeah, let’s drink.” 

She passed me the wine. That fucking stupid cheap white supermarket wine that we both have come to love so much in this house. I untwisted the lid, because of course it didn’t have a cork and took a large sip. Yes. Cheap wine. I needed this.

“I had a new case today. The worst case.”

“Shit.” She took the bottle from me gave it a large sip herself and we barely registered the door opening behind us. “Who are you defending? A fracker? A hunter of baby seals? A rapist?”

“Okay. Not the worst case. Not the worst case at all then considering defending any of those charges. Shit I’ve been kind of self centered.” I took the wine again and drank a couple of times. “Okay, just think. The lowest of low. The filth among filth. Deepest humiliation. And you’ll find it.”

“Hi, girls.” Harry just made a poorly timed entrance because with his greeting realisation came upon the face of my best friend “What are you up..-?”

“NO” Ginny cut him.

“Yes” I confirmed.

“But it can’t be that.”

“But it is.”

“But have you explained…?”

“Oh” Harry left himself fall on the bean bag. “You are doing  _ that _ again. I’m going to rest my eyes while you finish and then we’ll make dinner”

“Well superficially, but seeming that he requested me personally when he saw me passing by it is apparently of no consequence whatsoever. Even more, I was told that  _ your insight will be deeply appreciated in this case given your personal connection to it _ whatever the fuck that means.”

I exhaled angrily and took another sip from the bottle. I passed it to Harry and then collapsed on the sofa again before explaining, from between my teeth. 

“The firm new client is Lockhart. He requested me for the case and I’m stuck with it and there’s no way around it except quitting which we all know it is not an option.”

“Fuck, Hermione I’m sorry. Do you want me to arrest him?”

“Please” I pouted. “He called me Miony. Miony. That fucking nickname again. In front of everyone. IN FRONT OF FUCKING MALFOY.”

I covered my head with the blanket again.

Welcome to hell on Earth.

Ginny’s hand made its way inside the blanket and she stroked my hair. I pouted some more even though no one could see it. Harry joined her on the sofa and he caressed my hair too.

“So…” he said, carefully “Ice cream now for this crisis, and we can order pizza for dessert.”

At least, through hell, I would have the best people by my side.

-0-

_ He _ was being, of course, extremely difficult. My knuckles had whittened a while ago, and my reliable cheap pen had emitted a couple of concerning noises already. All the Tai Chi techniques I had learned to prepare myself against Malfoy, were now directed to  _ him. _

Of course the lawsuit was about the books. The poor boy  _ he _ had been using as a ghostwriter for the past eight years had finally snapped out of it and sued the fucking hell out of that pompous prick. 

I was having a look at the disastrous contract that had been redacted almost ten years ago, trying, at the same time, to tune out  _ his _ voice from the room.  _ He _ was an idiot. I was amazed  _ he _ was able to pull this off for this long without the world to notice. I wanted to slap him. Again. God. My palm itched with the need for it.

  
  


“We’ll have to settle. There’s no other way around it.” I finally concluded, looking up to my colleagues.

“Miony”  _ he _ whined “You know I don’t like losing…”

“It’s Miss Granger, actually.” I corrected _him_ for the fifth time this morning “And if we want to avoid court proceedings and the press scandal surrounding it I say a settlement and a NDA it’s the wisest course of action. Before you hire another ghostwriter, have a better contract in place, one that includes a NDA..”

“That is the easiest course of action. I want to win this.” There  _ he _ was. Unrelenting. “I came here because I thought your firm was the best in London, so I expect the best results.”

“I assure you, Mr. Lockhart, that we will find a course of action that satisfies your expectations.” Mr. Rowle, one of the actual firm’s solicitors assigned to this case spoke then.

“If you’ll excuse me…”

I stood up and I exited the room as fast as my heeled feet would permit me. I did my best to ignore the whiny “Miony” that I heard at my back. 

I wanted to bolt for the lift, but I decided that would take way too much of my time and I went for the stairs instead. As soon as I crossed the door I took my heels off and let my barely there business socks press against the cement. The whole pant-suit deal was getting old quite fast but I would do anything to avoid wearing tights. However, the cold cement was appreciated against my sore feet, and my fuming mood. 

I descended the flight of stairs to the floor below and returned to my precious conference room . My sacred space here. I put my heels back on and crossed the office again until I reached it, just to find it already occupied.

“You are  _ so _ predictable, Granger.” Malfoy smirked. “Took the stairs, I’m presuming”

I gruffed and I didn’t even dignify him with a response. I let myself fall on a chair. The walk has been good to calm me down, but I still needed this, the distance from  _ him _ to breathe. I hated that idiot so much and being involved precisely in this case was the last bloody straw.

I unlocked my phone and sent a brief text message.

_ I need to vent. Can you talk? It’s going to be me cursing his stupid face for ages to come. _

Malfoy didn’t like to be ignored to he kept pressing.

“What’s the deal with you and Lockhart? I tried to get Reggie to tell me but he wouldn’t buckle.”

His smirk widened when he got me to look at him. I’ve never heard him call Regulus Reggie before.

My eyes went back to my phone screen when it buzzed receiving a message from Harry.

**_Can’t I’m at the bullpen. I’m sorry. Maybe you can try one of the girls._ **

I groaned but I rapidly texted back.

_ Nevermind. It was going to be mostly what you already got during my second year of uni. Maybe I can try voodoo this time. Throw the doll out of a window. _

I received several laughing faces and I smiled.

_ Don’t arrest me for this. It’s for society.  _

**_Last time was for society too._ **

_ We don’t talk about last time. _

**_Yes ma'am_ **

“Did he break your pretty little heart?” 

I scoffed and locked my phone and looked at Malfoy. Did I give that fucking petty vibe? I was furious. I gritted my teeth and glared at him.

“I don’t have a heart.” I declared, in the end. It was a lie. “And neither does he, by the way. I ripped it out of his chest and stomped all over it until it was nothing but a bloody stain on the pavement.”

I stood up and made my way out of the conference room. From the door, I turned and I looked at Malfoy in the eye.

“Lockhart means trouble. This firm wants to be done with him as soon as possible.”

Day two with  _ him _ back and I hadn’t had a panic attack yet. I called that progress.

-0-

_ He _ was here again today and I knew what had to be done. I hated it. I hated it so much, but I was, first and foremost, a survivor, and I wouldn’t let  _ him _ take that from me.

I tightened my fist before I knocked on Regulus office door, in hopes that my hands could stop trembling. A muffled “Come in” arrived from behind the door and I made my way inside. 

“Miss Granger, if this is about the Lockhart case I’ve already told you you have to be in it. It is a requirement from the client.”

“It is about the Lockhart case.” I chewed my lip, to compel it to stop trembling.

“You have to be able to put your personal vendettas aside if you ever want to be successful in this business. We lawyers can’t af-”

“He never laid a hand on me.” I interrupted. I didn’t want to lose my momentum. “No, he’s… He’s way smarter than that. Lockhart had this… this way of annuling, of consuming from the inside. He would plant these seeds of doubt in me and they just would grow and rot me from within… I lost myself. Almost forever. But I got out. By a hair.” I hadn’t stopped staring at the man in front of me. “He’s so charming, right? And so famous. Not someone capable of such atrocities “I echoed my thoughts from back then. When I was in too deep too see clearly. They still cut like the sharpest blades. “ Psychological abuse And is it even rape if you technically don’t say no and just lay there? And he’s your boyfriend for fuck’s sake, Hermione!”

Now Mr. Black was the deer in headlights. 

“I know I can’t escape this case because the firm wants me in it. But I won’t be in the same room as he is. Not anymore. I’m going to work from the meeting room downstairs.”

I saw myself out of the office without permission. I needed a bathroom. Urgently. A meltdown was coming and it was not going to sit well with my makeup.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello to all of you one week more! Thank you so much for the comments they give me life. 
> 
> All the love to QuinTalon for her help

It was bad, of course, working for him, to help him. But now I could breathe. I had all the case files spread in front of me, and, according to Myrtle, the official version, said I was home with the flu. 

I navigated through old notes in my laptop revisiting National and European laws on copyright and intellectual property. I didn’t want to get rid of his old ghostwriter without fair compensation, I didn’t want to find the loophole. My heart was not in it. But just last week I had confessed to Malfoy that I didn’t own one. Utter bullshit I know, but he didn’t and that it was what was important.

Myrtle entered the room and left a coffee, a terribly strong one just how I liked it, on the table for me. I smiled at her and mouthed “Thanks” without much time for chatter. Music was busting in my ears from my phone. The Hot Hits UK from Spotify, wasn’t really that bad and maybe I was more of a pop person I had deemed myself before.

He was an idiot and he got what was coming to him. Based on the contract which he had signed with his ghostwriter all those years ago, he only had rights over the very first novel and not the five others.

“Lockhart, fucking idiot.”

It was perfectly ordinary that the man had been asking for more money, especially if he had been a dick which, knowing him, I could certainly have said it was more than likely.

“AHA!” 

A loud noise coming from behind me startled me. I turned to see Malfoy there and removed one of my headphones. 

“I knew this whole flu thing was totally false. Why are you here?”

I frowned.

“I have Regulus' permission to work from here.” More like he had my ultimatum “Take it up with him if it bothers you so much.”

“I did. He won’t tell me anything. Why are you here and not upstairs?”

“If he doesn’t tell you anything, can’t a person of your intellectual capacity deduce that, maybe, just maybe, it means that it is none of your business?”

He narrowed his eyes. I could see it. He was furious because he was missing something.

“Very well. I’ll ask Lockhart. Maybe tell him where you are now.”

I raised to my feet. Bile raising to my throat.  
“I utterly despise you.”

Malfoy grinned. Like a cat that’s trapped a mouse and now can toy with it.

“What’s with him that enervates you so much? I’ve seen you lose your temper before. In class, sure, debating this or that. But not like this.”

Malfoy took a step in my direction. 

“None of your business.” 

I stood my ground. I wouldn’t have another meltdown over this. Not at work.

“It’s fascinating really. The way he knows how to press your buttons. It’s quasi surgically precise. You are usually so calm and collected and then this bloke shows up and boom, there you go. I might ask him to teach me how to do that to you, Granger.”

The sound was the first thing I registered. It was final. Like a death sentence and definitely marked the end of that conversation. I haven’t even planned. I just did it. My hand tingled as the result of the impact and I could already see the skin of his cheek reddening.

Malfoy seemed stunned and I decided to use the opportunity to bolt. I put away my laptop in my bag quite unceremoniously and took my blazer, my coat, my phone, and my headphones and made a run for it. I had just reached the door of the meeting room when I felt my wrist trapped. I yanked it away with all my force.

“Don’t touch me. Ever.”

And I left. As soon as my feet where on the pavement I flagged a taxi and gave directions for the Pride Rock. 

-0-

I arrived to the pub half an hour later 

I dragged myself to a stool on the bar and kicked out my heels. Lee spotted me immediately, seeing that it was mid-afternoon and their usual crowd wasn’t due until hours later. 

“Uh, you look like shit. Want to talk about it?”

“I want three shots of tequila” I simply answered. “And Neville’s emergency hoodie. I take it’s still behind the bar.” I pouted. “Then we can talk about it.”

After all, semi-drunk Hermione was sad Hermione and all my friends knew that. He complied and he passed me the hoodie before serving the shoots.  
I discarded the coat and the blazer before putting it on, relishing on the familiarity of the worn out fabric.

I then proceeded to drink the shoots straight one after another, praying for the numbing of the alcohol to come and take me quickly. 

“Any chance that you have also emergency sweatpants back there? I’m planning to get sloshed and I would really prefer not to do so in a fucking pant suit.”

Lee gave me a shrug. 

“I don’t know. Maybe I can check for something Angelina might have here.”

“Thank you. And a beer?” I asked, hopefully.

“And a beer. But then, talk.”

Lee was able to fetch me one pair of Angelina’s yoga pants and I gave him one of my most sincere looks of gratitude. I made my way to the staff bathroom and I changed into them. Opting also to lose my blouse and bra under Neville’s sweatshirt. 

I folded my clothes into my laptop bag and made my way out of the bathroom with my mane loose all over my head. I was sure I looked fucking terrible, but my day had been dreadful anyway so who fucking cared anyway. 

I seated again in the bar stool happy to find a bottle of my favourite beer already waiting for me in front of me.

“So, talk?”

“Yes. Yes. Talk. My fucking God you are relentless Lee Jordan.” I sipped from my beer “By now I guess you know he’s back and pestering around my office.”

I knew the rumor had got around. I had told Harry and I knew Harry would blab to Ron, who would blab to the twins who would blab to Lee and Angelina and on and on. If I didn’t want it going out I would have talked to Luna. It was easier this way.

“So I had to talk to my boss about it.” I stayed in silence for a bit, drinking, but Lee didn’t interrupt me. He was a barman and he was an expert in listening. “Because I just couldn’t stay there, you know? In that room with him. In that closed espace. It was terrifying. And I wanted to tell myself I was not afraid. I told myself that for two whole days but…”

My makeup was ruined again. Tears. Fucking tears. Lee’s hand was over mine.

“So my boss now knows. Not like the big boss. I don’t think that one even knows I exist. But my manager. The one who supervises me.” 

Lee gave me a squeeze, in reassurance.

“Hermione, I know you have a problem with vulnerability especially when it comes to this, but-”

“No.” I cut him. “It’s not about that. I mean, yes, you are right about that but this” I gestured to the hoodie and yoga pants mess “It’s about something else.”

“Okay, tell me what happened. I won’t judge. You know it.”

I finished my beer and I sighed.

“Vodka tonic?”

I was mixing my liquors and I was going to be positively hating myself next morning, but I didn’t really care much about that right now.

“Right away.”

The glass was in front of me within minutes. I was lucky to be the only client of the pub at that time of the afternoon so I could have Lee’s undivided attention towards me and my meltdown.

“So my boss let me work in a different room. Away, but still working in the case because removing me it would have been entirely too much trouble and attention. It was actually my idea. I actually kind of gave him an ultimatum. He’s nice, my boss, such a basic mid-thirties cisheteroish white male, but still.” 

I sipped from the straw that Lee had been so gracious to bring me. 

“So he let me work there and I was perfectly fine for like a week. Apparently the official version it was that I was home with the flu. You know, to keep him at bay. But then, today,-”

“Fuck, has he done something to you? Do you want me to call Harry? Do we need to go to the police?”

“Lee! My story. Okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“So today I was working there and my partner went inside saying that he knew that the whole flu thing was bullshit and asking questions and demanding explanations and then he said this thing...” My hands tightened around the glass. “He said this thing and I don’t think I will ever forget it. He said «You are usually so calm and collected and then this bloke shows up and boom, there you go. I might ask him to teach me how to do that to you, Granger.»” Lee’s expression shifted in an instant and, in the tension of his jaw, I knew he could feel it too. “And the panic just kicked in and I slapped him. And then I ran here.”

“We are going to kill him. We are going to kill them both.”

Lee spoke through gritted teeth and I laughed dryly. 

“You know what’s the funniest thing about this? That fucking prat I’ve slapped today? His last name is in the building. His family owns the firm. So yeah. He has ruined me again. Cheers to Gilderoy Fucking Lockhart because he keeps finding ways to screw with me.”

I raised my glass to no one in particular and took a large sip, not bothering with the straw this time.

“I’ll call you a Harry to pick you up when he gets out of work. I don’t think you can get home today on your own, missy.”

I pouted, but I knew Lee was more than right so, instead I asked.

“Shots? Absinthe shots?”

“You know, the Manchester United is playing in London the Saturday after next. Maybe that will cheer you up a bit.”

“Jordan” I warned him “Give me alcohol and not another ghost of an ex-boyfriend, please.”  
-0-  
The next morning, as predicted, I had a terrorist hangover but I swallowed two aspirins half a liter of water and a cup of extra hot coffee and I went to work. Maybe I was being sacked but at least I was being sacked with dignity.

When I arrived to the meeting room, Malfoy was already there. His face was back to its normal paleness.

“Granger I’m-”

“Yeah, Yeah.” I shut him up with a hand gesture “Do I go to Regulus’ office or directly to HR to finish paperwork?”

“What are you talking about?” He frowned. 

“Well I slapped you. I assaulted a member of the family who owns this place. Yeah, sacking sounds like the outcome for me.”

I wasn’t going to beg for him to keep me. I needed the job, of course, but I couldn’t beg after what he had said.

“You are not getting fired.” He assured me. “I actually wanted to apologi-”

“If I’m not getting fired, I don’t want to talk to you either. Not about anything that doesn’t have to do with work exclusively. Never again. Don’t want your apologies either. You are incapable of grasping what you’ve done.”

I sat down and started to get my things on the table. I, after all, had to get to work. I turned on my computer and he stepped towards me. I flinched and that didn’t go unnoticed. 

“Hermione, please-”

“It’s Miss Granger.” I cut him again. I wouldn’t buckle. Not a millimeter.

“Miss Granger, then, whatever the fuck you want, just listen to me. Please. I’m so sorry. I just-” He was the one begging now.

“We have a case to attend I believe. Any progress on the Intellectual Property Law? The initial contract was truly abysmal, but if we can maybe claim that our client was taken advantage of..” I had fixated my eyes on my computer screen. Decided to ignore the matter of his apologies.

“He’s not our client anymore.”

I looked at Malfoy, perplexed.

“After the events of yesterday. I compelled Mr. Lockhart to see that a settlement deal and a NDA were, indeed, in his best interest. That case is closed. For good. He’s gone.”

For a brief second, I wanted to thank him for expelling him of my life. But then I remembered his words. «I might ask him to teach me to do that to you.» I literally bit my tongue to repress any kind of gratitude passing my lips.

“I don’t need any kind of salvation coming from you.” 

I plugged the headphones into my laptop and went back to my screen waiting for the eventual apparition of Regulus who would save us from this room charged with tension and mistakes.


End file.
